Heatpumps Advice?

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billgates

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#34196 20-May-2009 23:16

Hey folks. Parents are wanting couple of split AC installed in their 4 year old house to keep the house warm during winter and cold during summer. I did a bit of research and turns out that bascially there is only Panasonic, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi that offer decent one's.

Anyone got any advice/suggestions on a particular brand/model that they like? They live in Hamilton. Anyone know what the installation costs are approx? They want 2 spilt AC installed in 2 different Lounges. They already have a DVS system installed as well in the same house.

Thanks

billgates

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allstarnz

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#216501 20-May-2009 23:24

some heat pumps will not just do air circulation (fan mode), which can be annoying to some. If you want this, double check the heat pump you have supports it.

jjnz1

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#216502 20-May-2009 23:26

to start off.. you need to provide the size of the floor space of each room you want to heat and the hieght of the walls.

billgates

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#216507 21-May-2009 00:01

Don't know the exact details like height and floor space of each room. Though I do know that the total floor area is 270 square meter. 4 bedrooms + 1 study + 2 lounge.

Need the split AC installed in the lounges only.

Do whatever you want to do man.

Regs

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Snowflake

#216512 21-May-2009 01:20

i was told that toshiba have the lowest rate of breakdowns out of all the brands - they just work. Perhaps theres a toshiba model that suits?

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#216522 21-May-2009 06:03

they've become like jap cars i reckon - they're all reliable and very similar, they all just work and work and work. get a floor model as it sounds like they're rich enough to afford one. floor models are more expensive but apparently heat better.

for me it's a fujitsu or a mitsubishi, depending on the looks. the shop will be able to guide you to one of an appropriate 'power' for their needs.

Lipex666

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#216523 21-May-2009 06:20

The brands are prettty much the same in features.

However only one brand has a 6 year warranty on the units and on6 years on the install its Fujitsu.

We had several quaotes and went with 3 units. Its best to get the experts in to do a free quote to suite your building as one solution does doea not fit all with heat pumps.

Also what you are looking at is star rating how efficent they are 6 is better than 4

Look at heating and cooling range. one dollar in six dollors out in heat etc Fujitsu has lots of excellent info on their web site.

If you look at the specs Fujitsu is way out in front.

If in Auckland see Absolute Air Conditioning.

"The only way to learn some- thing is to do it"

xlinknz

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#216536 21-May-2009 08:14

Consumer had a good article and also have a free tool for working out what size unit you would need

http://www.consumer.org.nz/topic.asp?docid=567&category=Appliances&subcategory=Heating%20%26%20ventilation&topic=Heat%20pumps&title=What%20size%20heat%20pump%3F&contenttype=calculator

From what I can tell the biggest issue is a] units installed being underspeced b] bad installs

Another relatively unknown brand is Airwell which Consumer also recommended amongst the usual big names, we have an Airwell Spilt unit as it came with the new house. Two years and no problems.

REMEMBER though they need maintenance i.e. clean the filters regularly

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Zippity

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#216549 21-May-2009 09:07

Daikin gets my money

robjg63

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#216552 21-May-2009 09:18

Daikin is a good brand. My parents and Brother both have them. Recommended by an installer who does Panasonic and Mitsubishi units as well. He reckoned he had the least issues with Daikin.
They havent had an issues after 5 and 10 years respectively.
PS They live in the middle of the South Island so the units get pretty busy heating in the winter!

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

billgates

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#216637 21-May-2009 13:15

Thanks for the tips guys. Will advice them on Daikin and Fujitsu then. Seems like the most popular amongst geeks families.

Do whatever you want to do man.

minimoke

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#216673 21-May-2009 14:21

We have a couple of Fujitsus which, now the snow is on the mountains, are running fulltime. The other thing to look out for is noise. If the units are going in lounge type areas you don't want anything that is noisy (we have one in a lounge and one in the bedroom hallway and the noise they make is very quiet. Also look for the noise from the outdoor units. Perhaps not under a bedroom window! For the lounge area also make sure the units do not create a draft - ours is mounted high on the wall.

edge

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#216682 21-May-2009 15:03

Fujitsu for us also. Have one (small commercial) installed in our retail shop (about 180 cubic meters space to heat/cool) which has been great for over two years so far.

Because we were pleased with the guy that arranged the install we went with him for one in my parents' house - got the second largest Fujitsu domestic model - no real practical performance gains from next model up. Its a fairly large single room and the pump is just great (18 months installed so far).

Only comment I would make is that I was very happy with the guy that arranged the installs for us and relied on his advice, which has proved to be very good (backup advice/service great also). So I would say try and get some recommendations for a good installer as well as thinking about the brand per se.

<edit> would have recommended our "guy" but we are in Kapiti so not much use to you.

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billgates

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#219067 29-May-2009 01:08

Thanks for tips and advice guys. They choose Fujitsu and went for couple of these in-ceiling-cassette-trays which makes their house look less ugly. It was more expensive to install + buy the unit than Hi wall AC but I took a look at it today and gets my vote. Sure does makes the house look less ugly and almost is invisible on the wall. They went for one H8kW and one H6kW unit.

http://www.fujitsugeneral.co.nz/in-ceiling-cassette.html

Do whatever you want to do man.